Acts 7:59 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

NIV: While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

NASB: They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!'

CSB: While they were stoning Stephen, he called out: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

NLT: As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'

KJV: And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

NKJV: And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

The process of stoning is more involved than simply throwing rocks. According to the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 6.1–4, the officials take the person out of the court, ask for defensive testimony, then ask the person to acknowledge his crime and that he deserves the punishment. The convict is thrown into a lower area off a cliff twice the height of a man, so that he falls face up. If he lands face down, he is flipped over; if he dies from the fall, the execution is over. If he doesn't die from the fall, a witness slams a large stone into his heart. If this doesn't kill him, the crowd throws stones on him until he is dead. So, it's likely Stephen is saying these words as they are walking him to the place of stoning, not while they are throwing rocks at him.

It's not known how long Stephen has been in Jerusalem, or if he was present at Jesus' crucifixion, but he's surely heard the stories. And so he knows that as Jesus breathed His last, He said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" (Luke 23:46). Stephen has just seen Jesus, standing at the right hand of God the Father (Acts 7:55). As painful as his circumstances are, he has full assurance that Jesus is waiting for him. He doesn't fear dying, because he knows where he's going (Matthew 10:28).

Very few of us today will see Jesus on earth, let alone see Him next to God as the skies open up. But if we trust Jesus' sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins, if we willingly accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we can have the same ending as Stephen: our souls in Christ's hands where we will never be taken away (John 10:28).

Acts 7:54–60 finishes the story of the Jesus-follower Stephen. He has been falsely accused of blasphemy against God, Moses, the Mosaic law, and the temple (Acts 6:8–15). He has used the history of the Jews to show how over the years the Jews have come to worship Moses, the Law, and the temple like idols (Acts 7:1–53). His accusers are furious, but when Stephen claims to see Jesus standing next to God, the crowd goes mad, and Stephen becomes the first Christian martyr. His death sparks a great persecution against the church, but as the Jesus-followers flee Jerusalem, they take the gospel to the world (Acts 1:8).

Stephen is a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian and one of the first deacons in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1–7). He's also a skilled apologist and has been debating Jews from outside Judea about the proper place of the Mosaic law and the temple (Acts 6:8–15). His opponents cannot counter his arguments so they resort to lies. They tell the Sanhedrin that Stephen wants to destroy the temple and repeal the Mosaic law. Stephen counters that his accusers don't respect Moses or the Law, and the temple isn't necessary to worship God. This enrages the mob, and Stephen is stoned, becoming the first Christian martyr.

Chapter 7 is one of the pivot points of the book of Acts. Until recently, the early church has seen favor from the people and indifference from the Sanhedrin. Now, the Sanhedrin has beaten the apostles and ordered them not to preach about Jesus (Acts 5:40), and the people are starting to realize how different Christianity is. In Jerusalem, a Hellenist Jewish Jesus-follower named Stephen has been in a debate with other foreign Jews who finally accuse him of wishing to destroy the temple, like Jesus (Acts 6:8–15). This is Stephen's defense, which leads to his death and the introduction of Paul.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.